Long Baseline Atom Interferometry

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• David Johnson (Stanford)
• Monday 19 July 2010, 14:00-15:00
• Physics East 217.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Vincent Boyer.

Due to its impressive sensitivity, long baseline atom interferometry is an exciting tool for tests of fundamental physics. I will discuss the current effort at Stanford to build a 10-meter scale experiment to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) using co-located Rb85 and Rb87 atom interferometers. This apparatus aims to improve the current limit on WEP violation 100-fold, which illustrates the power of this technique. However, this scientific goal sets stringent requirements on the kinematic preparation of the atomic test masses, the interferometer laser wavefront and stability, as well as the electromagnetic and gravitational field homogeneity. Our methods to control these sources of error are applicable to other precision tests of fundamental physics, such as searches for gravity waves and testing charge neutrality of atoms.

This talk is part of the Cold Atoms series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Bham Talks
• Cold Atoms
• Physics East 217
• What's on in Physics?

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